226 G straight 6 overheating
 

My 226 g is having an overheat issue. It happens when setting still and idling. Cools back down when moving, and engine speed is up. Took it out for a drive today, 90 degree day, all was fine when moving but as soon as I let it idle the temp would start rising. I hadn't had it out enough till now to notice this problem.

What i have is,

Recent rebuild, less that 250 miles, machine shop didn't acid dip the block they baked it.
New rebuilt water pump, with new style helical fins, not the straight original type Ford pump
NORS radiator - new not rebuilt -- 0 lb cap
Belts are tight - do not squeal if engine is revved hard


If I put a fan in front of the car, idling it will cool down.

Any suggestions?

In the pics it has cooled back down, it had reached 210 on the mechanical gauge, the dash gauge is not hooked up

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

You have already figured out that there is not enough air through it when not moving. I don't know what the spec is for the distance of the fan to the radiator, but closer is better. Other options are more blades on the fan, or a shroud.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Wow, I had one of those in my 47 coupe and it wouldn't run hot enough. I had to place a restrictor inside the top radiator hose . You mentioned the impeller had been changed in the water pump. Are you absolutely sure the helical fins are cut to run in the direction of the pump? Also run a 7 lb cap. Those engines just don't have a history of running hot, at least none that I've ever experienced.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Also make sure that you have all the deflector shields in place around the grill opening and the radiator support, including the one on the top so that all air being drawn in through the grill opening is being drawn through the radiator and not going around it.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

You need a shroud and the various shields, as others have mentioned.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

I just happened to think, I have a modern type thermostat in it. will that cause any issues??
Shrouds crossed my mind, and will be easy enuf to make. I don't have the bottom air shield on it btu I think that would only affect air flow at speed.
There sure is a lot of radiator the fan doesn't cover, (just a thot going thru my thick skull).
Kinda has me wondering if the NORS radiator (had old old masking tape over all the holes) might not be truly NEW ORS and may have a flow problem. There is a lot of water movement from the pump so I think the pump may be doing its job well enough.

Oh well, just random thoughts, I am going to talk to my welder neighbor and get some thin sheet metal and see about having him make me a shroud.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

I am running a modern style 180* in my H with no overheating issues. It gets to 180 and stays there. It controls the flow beautifully to maintain the temp dead on. After it warms up anytime I check it with an infrared thermometer at the top of the radiator is is consistent.

jb

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

If a radiator cools at speed, it indicates the radiator will do its job with airflow. Many radiators will cool at idle but not at speed, that is a capacity problem.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

The one test that you've done that solves the problem is adding airflow. It sounds like your car is missing baffles...those should be replaced. The engineers put those there for a reason. Did the car originally have a fan shroud? If so, replace that as well. If you don't care about originality, an electric fan works well...I hear.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Fan shroud will work wonders. Ask me how I know.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

I'm not as concerned with looks as I am the heat issue. So a shroud is a definite possibility. Any one have one on a 6 they could shoot a pic of to give me a head start?
All the parts are in place with the exception of the one at the behind the grille and in front of the radiator.
I am also looking at adding a spacer between the fan pulley and fan to get it about an inch closer to the radiator. That will still give about an inch clearance.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

optimum distance between a fan and radiator without a shroud is 3/4 of an inch. if you have a fan shroud, the fan blades should extend only about halfway into the shroud opening. anything other than this will not result in maximum cooling. you may also want to check different sections of your radiator with an infrared heat gun for "cold" spots that may indicate that the radiator is partially plugged. this will cause low speed/idle overheating, but may be ok at speed. note that the bottom of the radiator should be cooler than the top, as the pumps pull the coolant up and into the block and "push" it out the top outlets back into the radiator. unless my mind is thinking backwards. hope that this will help

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

well the overheat issue has never gone away, but then i havent done much to address the issue.
I did today fashion a quick shroud out of cardboard and taped it in place. The darn thing worked wonders.
In the next few days I will be making a shroud that surrounds the entire fan, this one only encloses half the fan.
I let the car idle for about an hour and it never got over 192.
The radiator is just barely 3/4 inch from the fan and I can definitely feel a lot more air flow with this piece of crap shroud, I can only imagine what a nice complete shroud will do.
I'll post pics of the completed shroud, for now here's something to laugh about.

Oh yeah, if anyone has a modern fan belt number and maker for this thing I'd love to have it. I can NOT find one anywhere that is the correct size. All I can find is 1/2 inch wide, it needs to be 3/4 wide.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

You can use the 1/2 inch or slightly larger.. as long as it doesn't sink to low.. When I switched to an alternator.. I could not find any belt that matched.. Ended up using one belt from Granger and one from Gates..

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Look into a 6 or 7 blade flex fan. Have a 7 blade on mine and was amazed at how much more air it moved.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

51 MERC - the shroud material is free, but i have definitely thought of using a more blade fan. I hadnt looked yet to see whats available.

Vintage Cooper - i have a 1/2 inch wide belt that seems to slip no matter how tight I get it. it may just be me. I think I found a 5/8 wide belt @ NAPA. We'll see, it's in Phoenix and I'm in KY. It's supposed to be on its way.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

When I first got my '51 sedan with a 226 on the road I did not have a front bumper splash pan installed. The car would overheat the minute I stopped moving. After installing the splash pan, the problem went away. Apparently the sixes are very sensitive to air flow.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

I just finished working on a little G series the other week. It was overheating as well. They are a bit sensitive to ignition timing and you may wish to be sure your advance weights in your dizzy are not stuck.


Attachment 323488

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

35fordtn. I see it had the correct belts on the one you worked o.k. have any idea where they came from?????
I have the timing set center on the distributor i have no Mark on the harmonic balancer to go by.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Very little timing to do.. EdHD58.. that is a beautiful motor

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Vintage Copper that motor isn't mine. That's one 35fordtn was working on

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Hi; these fellows are right on.. also the 6 cyl truck had shrouds and multi-bladed fans - firetruck ect. Carpenter has some other fans. I just used WATER WETTER in my 215 six and it helped!! Newc

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

The owner supplied the belts however they are all over eBay. To set the timing properly you'd want to have the distributor set up on a timing fixture. These 6's are a challenge but unique and they drive really well.

Is you heat rider valve in the exhaust manifold functional on yours?

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

From your description it sounds like Skip rebuilt your pump?? Also is
the radiator full of coolant and does it stay full? Losing coolant through
the overflow tube is a common problem. If your radiator filer neck is
set up for a 4 lb pressure cap that will prevent coolant lose below 205
degrees. Modern stats restrict the flow of coolant through the engine.
Remove the stats until the problem is resolved. Fix all the known
problems you have found. Then to test the system put a house type
box fan against the grill and run at an engine speed of about 25 MPH.
Take the temperature with a laser pointed thermometer just below
where the upper hose connect to the engine. Take the temperature
at that spot every 5 minutes and write them down. After about 30
minutes the temp should stabilize and that will be the temp you will
see driving. In heavy traffic on hot days or long idle periods the fan
may not produce enough air for cooling. Purple Ice is a wetting agent
and two bottle should reduce temperatures about 20 plus degrees.
This can be added to your antifreeze. G.M.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

35fordtn. No the heat riser is stuck wide open. I tried for weeks to free it witn no success.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

GM. With a box fan in front of the car the temp stay at 185 to190 idling for over an hour. Remove the fan and the temp starts climbing

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

That proves you have a fan related problem. It will rise without the external fan
but does it go over 205?? G.M.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

yep, it will actually percolate if i let it

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

How long does it take to percolate after you took the fan away. And what
temp is percolate? Most old Fords will get almost to the boiling point in
hot weather if left to idle for long periods. There is a trick to driving these
on hot days. You try to keep the speed over 25 MPH, if you get stuck in
traffic you got to get out of traffic and get moving. It will come back to
normal in a mile or so. I can remember lots of times I had to get moving.
One time it was over 100 on I-75 somewhere in South Georgia. Temp was getting up a little over 200, I went down the right shoulder passing 50
or more cars and got by the pack, the temp came back to normal and
I tried not to get into that situation again. This was maybe 15 or more
years ago going to a National V/8 show. When I got there and stopped
I experienced the first vapor lock I remember having. This may have
been when corn gas first came along. G.M.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

GM. It percolated on me one day when I was stuck in traffic. It has never percolated on me since. But I have never been in heavy traffic at a crawl since that day. With the makeshift fan shroud I had on it it idled for over an hour and never got above 192 or so. So my theory is make it complete fan shroud and I should never have to worry about overheating again, stuck in traffic or not

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

The temp out percolated at was approximately 215 degrees

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

The shroud is the solution. You are not getting good temperature readings.
At 215 it wouldn't be percolating, all the coolant would blow out. G.M.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

yep, thats what happened. It was about 215, it blew coolant out of the radiator, flooded the distributor, engine died and it was percolating when it died.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Did you ever resolve this issue? Also, I think my car could benefit from a Six Bladed Fan.. when I checked Macs & Carpenter, came up with only electric (ugh)... I love mechanical fans.. :cool:

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

I tried a6 blade fan but the bolt holes weren't wide enough. I have the shroud made and installed it last night. Will hopefully get to try tonight and see what happens.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Good luck, let me know how it turns out.. :cool:

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Kinda sorta tried it tonight. I did drive it and let it idle an hour an the temp never got over 190, that's the stat i have in it.The kinda sorta statement is because it cooled down here to mid 70s tonight. I am taking it tomorrow to a local car show, "Cruisin the Heartland" in Elizabethtown, KY. We'll see tomorrow how it does.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

There are no timing marks. The distributor has to be set up on a Distributor machine to get it dialed in. Otherwise your just shooting in the dark.

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

Custom made radiator shroud? :cool:

Re: 226 G straight 6 overheating
 

ok I said it wrong. its a fan shroud. but here are pics of what i did.